Short sellers made decisive moves this week ending September 26. Energy refining ETF CRAK saw SI hit 36.8% of float — up 38% in seven days. Mortgage REIT RWT saw the sharpest build, with SI surging 215% to 22.1% of float as borrow dried up. On the other side, silver ETF SLV and payments giant PYPL saw bears retreat sharply.
RWT — Redwood Trust SI jumped 215% in one week to 22.1% of free float. 27.9 million shares are now short. Cost to borrow climbed 244% to 5.53%. Availability collapsed 53% to just 23.6% — signalling acute borrow scarcity.
CRAK — VanEck Oil Refiners ETF SI hit 36.8% of float, up 38% in one week. The move aligns with energy sector rotation tied to Middle East tensions and widening refinery margins.
ENS — EnerSys SI surged 36% in a single day to 8.1% of float. Availability spiked alongside the move — a pattern consistent with short squeeze dynamics building beneath the surface.
BETA — BETA Technologies SI nearly doubled in one week, up 94.7% to 8.9% of float. Bears increased bets as the stock weakened.
VICR — Vicor Corporation SI rose 40% to 7.3% of float. Notably, the stock climbed 28% over the same period. Borrow availability stands at 478% and cost to borrow sits at just 0.50% — bears are pressing a rising stock with cheap, easy-to-find borrow.
SLV — iShares Silver Trust SI dropped 32% in one week to 4.28% of float. Availability surged to 230%. Borrow demand collapsed — a clear short-side capitulation in silver.
PYPL — PayPal SI fell 24% over seven days to 2.8% of float. That is the lowest reading in months. Bears are exiting at pace.
Energy shorts dominate Energy names drove the week's most critical short-interest builds. CRAK led with SI at 36.8% of float. The convergence data shows VDE options skew hitting near a 52-week high as shorts built positions there too. MPC saw put hedges deepen even as analyst opinion split — Jefferies broke from the consensus while shorts retreated.
Financials see two-way pressure XLF recorded a convergence flagging rising short interest and climbing borrow costs simultaneously. IXG — a global financials ETF — saw SI surge 717% to 3.5% of float, though the base was small at 187,362 shares short. RWT sits at the sharp end of the sector's borrow stress.
ETF shorts build across sectors XLF, XLB, XLI, and XLV all triggered convergence alerts this week. Bears are using sector ETFs to express broad macro views. IWM short interest hit 33% of float — one of the more striking readings in the small-cap space.
European and international positioning VGK — the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF — saw SI drop 26.8% to 1.93% of float, a multi-month low. Bears are pulling back on European equities. In contrast, EWJ triggered a convergence as Japan ETF borrow costs doubled.
Fertilizers under pressure NTR — Nutrien — saw SI rise 20.5% over one week to 0.73% of float. The build is steady rather than explosive, reflecting growing bearish conviction on the fertilizer producer.
Several tickers saw multiple data signals align this week.
RWT combined a 215% SI surge with a 53% availability collapse and a 244% borrow cost spike — three simultaneous stress signals in the same direction.
OBX — the borrow market seized up as shorts piled in, flagging acute scarcity.
TLT — the long-bond ETF — reignited a bear trade after a brief retreat. SI and borrow conditions both moved in the same direction.
CART — Instacart — saw short sellers build positions as call buyers doubled down, creating a direct tug-of-war between bulls and bears.
APP and ISRG both showed rising short interest alongside elevated put activity — bears reinforcing bearish options bets with direct short positions.
CRWV was upgraded by JP Morgan, yet bears kept building. Analyst optimism and short-side conviction are pointing in opposite directions.
NUAI sits at 47% SI of float with availability at just 15%. Classic squeeze-condition territory — borrow is scarce and the short base is large relative to the float.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
